Dave Berke – The Need to Lead

DAVE BERKE is a Retired U.S. Marine Corps Officer, Fighter Pilot, and the Chief Officer of Development and Curriculum and Leadership Instructor at Echelon Front.

Dave Berke is a retired Marine Corps officer, fighter pilot, and ground-combat leader. A seasoned F/A-18 Hornet pilot, Dave was deployed twice aboard aircraft carriers in support of combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. He spent three years as an Instructor Pilot at TOPGUN and became qualified in the F-16 Fighting Falcon, then served as the Training Officer, the senior staff pilot responsible for the conduct of the TOPGUN course. He was the only Marine ever to fly the F-22 Raptor and became the first operational pilot to fly and be qualified in the F-35B, commanding the world’s first F-35B squadron. 

Dave went on to serve as an ANGLICO forward air controller in the Battle of Ramadi, leading an arms liaison team in combat missions through the most dangerous neighborhoods and accompanying Task Unit Bruiser on virtually every major operation. 

Dave holds both a Master's in International Public Policy and an MBA from The John Hopkins University. Upon his retirement from the Marine Corps, Dave joined Jocko Willink and Leif Babin to apply his leadership expertise as the Chief Development Officer at Echelon Front, where he advises, speaks, and instructs civilian teams and companies. He is the author of the forthcoming book, “The Need to Lead”, which distills his lessons from TOPGUN to the battlefield into actionable leadership skills. 

Takeaways:

1. Leadership exists in every capacity.  This is a great point that Dave’s book brings home..literally.  As Dave points out, it starts with ourselves – actually taking the time to lead ourselves, then also looking to lead in all of our roles – at home, at work, in our communities, and beyond.  
2. Detachment.  This is a great point that comes out in the book as well as our conversation.  It’s a word we don’t think about often, but I think it perfectly describes what have to do when we lead our teams.  Truly effective leadership doesn’t happen unless we genuinely listen to our team and take in their perspectives and ideas.  For us to do this, we need to have the ability to detach from ourselves – our ego, our emotions, our own viewpoints, etc.  If we can do this, we’ll develop the ability to consistently lead the team and build a strong culture as well.  
3. It’s ALWAYS about the team.  What an amazing story Dave tells about landing on that carrier in the dark and the snow…being surprised at the SOUND of him landing.  Dave tells how he never would have been able to land if it wasn’t for the team on the carrier that guided him in – the team on the flight deck, the cat seat controllers who control you at night, air traffic control team, etc.  Dave was the pilot, and it would’ve been easy for him to allow his ego to take over and accept the pats on the back for landing the plane.  Instead, he took the lesson its impact on him to teach him the importance of realizing that no matter what you do, it’s ALWAYS about the TEAM.

Links:

Website:  https://echelonfront.com/leadership-books/the-need-to-lead/

IG: @davidrberke

FB: https://www.facebook.com/DaveRBerke

X: @davidrberke